e-Wedding

When one of my best friends told me about his wedding date a couple of months back, I was pretty distraught. There was no way I could attend his wedding, as I would be out of the country at that time. Not only was I sad about missing this momentous occasion in his life, I was also disappointed at missing a chance to catch up with all my old friends that I would have met after years, at the wedding. I could also feel the disappointment in my friend who was getting married, that one of his closest pals would not be around to see him get hitched.

Then one day, over a telephonic conversation, we hatched a plan to overcome our geographical boundaries. As with almost all life's problems these days, the web came to your rescue. We decided to use my friend's laptop and webcam, along with his wireless internet data card connection to webcast his wedding LIVE via Skype.

And thus, the web helped Me and his Grandma, who was unable to attend on account of ill health, register our e-presence at wedding from different parts of the world.

Related Post - GBM

Yeh Jeevan Hai..

Over heard in the Boston Metro..

I woman on crutches, with her right leg heavily plastered, gingerly hops onto the subway train. Due to office hour rush, she is not able to find a place to sit. She somehow manages to balance herself and stands next to a vertical support.

An old man standing nearby, moved by the situation, speaks to her. “It must be difficult travelling in the subway in this state. You should have stayed home.”

“I need to go to work every day.” the woman replied with a smile.

“Oh! Going to work everyday must be a challenge. I guess you must be happy that the day is over and you are going home to take some rest.”

“Not really. With this broken leg, I find it harder to do the household chores as compared to my office duties, especially with 2 young kids at home.”

“Ya, I guess so. Hope your husband shares some of your burden at home.”

“I am a single mother”.

The old man pats her on the back. The conversation ends.

The incident highlights a couple of things for me. One, how tough and lonely life can be in extremely individualistic societies of the West; where the concept of family life as we know it in the East, simply does not exist. And two, no matter how tough your life is personally, you can always find someone else who is going through worse times. Hence, we should always be thankful for what God has given us.

Favorite Star Trek Episodes

As a big Star Trek fan (of The Original Series, not The Next Generation) since my childhood, I was pleasantly surprised to see that most episodes of The Original Series up on Youtube a couple of months back. Since then, I have seen most of them again on weekends. Here is my list of favorite episodes.

1. Space Seed (Sci-fi at it's best)

2. The City on the Edge of Forever (Most critically acclaimed)

3. Tomorrow is Yesterday (Sheer time travel fun)

4. Amok Time (Spock's "human" side)

5. The Trouble with Tribbles (Funniest)

6. The Enemy Within (Great concept of good and evil)

7. The Devil in the Dark (Moral tale)

8. Spectre of the Gun (Shades of Matrix philosophy)

Salt Lake City Airport

When I recently happened to make a stop over at Salt Lake City Airport, I was quite dazzled by the natural beauty surrounding it. The airport is flanked by picturesque mountains on several sides, and the view before landing is something to behold. I understand that all of Salt Lake City is flanked by such wonderful mountains, as if they are guarding the city against enemies.

Here are some pictures. (Sources - I, II). More pictures from Salt lake City are here.

Darr ke aage jeet hai..

I have had a fear of heights right from my childhood. I always tend to avoid peeping from high rises and mountainous cliffs. The same goes for roller coasters and thrill rides as well. One incident 5 years back, when I was coaxed into jumping onto a roller coaster by a few friends and felt horribly giddy afterwards, further increased by reluctance towards taking up any activity involving high G-forces. I decided never again to undertake any such ride in my life.

Hence, when a friend of mine invited me to join him on visit to an adventure park that had many high intensity thrill rides earlier this year, I was naturally very apprehensive. As I reluctantly joined him on the trip, I kept telling myself that I would not take any of mind-numbing thrill rides on offer under any circumstances. Yet, I finally bowed down to my friend's repeated requests and took one of the rides on offer.

To say that it was a petrifying experience would be an understatement. My head was swiveling like a top. But once done, I felt a strange feeling of accomplishment within me. I felt I had overcome an internal demon. I had "survived" a roller coaster ride!

So, when my friend asked me to join him on the next thrill ride that promised even greater G-forces, I said yes. Even though I knew my heart would be in my mouth again during the ride, I wanted to take that experience to see how I cope with it. Surprisingly, though the second ride scared me as well, it did so much less than the first one.

Ride after ride followed next. Though I felt an element of fear in all of them, it slowly ceased being a mortal one. By the end of the day, as I gingerly walked away from the amusement park with my head still feeling the aftereffects of all the twisting, turning and falling, I almost felt that I had overcome my fear of heights to a great extent.

I few weeks back, when I visited Las Vegas, I wanted to re-test the extent to which I had overcome Acrophobia. Hence I decided to take pay a visit to Stratosphere Tower, the tallest freestanding observation tower in the United States and the second tallest in the Western Hemisphere, and take the Big Shot and X-Scream rides, which are the world's highest amusement rides.

Big Shot

X-Scream

I was surprised at the relative lack of fear these rides were able to induce in me as compared to the previous ones I had taken. It reinforced my belief that it is possible to overcome one's deepest fears and insecurities, provided one is willing to take the first step.

Almighty Encounter

Prologue:-

Long and controversial post ahead. Read when you have time to spare. Do leave a comment after reading. Would love to know your reaction to these ideas.

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Does God exist? Why was the concept of God created? What practical purpose does God serve in our lives? Probably the most commonly asked questions by mankind. Whether one believes in God or not, there is a high probability that at some point in one’s life, each one of us have asked this question, either to ourselves or someone else.

Let us try to look at these questions from a logical point of view.

Why was the concept of God being created?

The concept of God was probably created many thousands of years back, when early man had just differentiated himself from other animals by virtue of his intelligence. At that stage, though man was intelligent enough to cultivate food, use primitive mechanics etc., he was not intelligent enough yet to be able to understand the real reasons behind natural phenomena like floods, droughts, fire, earthquakes, disease etc. Due to this lack of understanding, he ended up attributing these phenomena to an omnipotent Supreme Being he could not see, touch or hear. Someone up there must be pulling the strings that made these things happen, he must have thought. The concept of God must have been created right then.

It was again due to this lack of understanding of natural events, that man must have begun worshiping God. Man did so in order to please Him so that man does not incur His wrath. Man feared God. Man did not want natural calamities to befall on him; instead wanted “divine” help in carrying out his worldly activities in the easier and better way.

As the process of human evolution moved forward, man became ever more intelligent, and hence more powerful. With this, man became more arrogant as well. Groups of men started fighting with each other over land, wealth and women. The weak began being suppressed by the strong. Primitive dictatorships were established.

It was probably then that a few enlightened souls began to reflect on the degeneration of humanity. They began to realize what was happening was not correct, and needed corrective action. What is the use of man’s superior intelligence, if he continues to behave like a wild animal? Someone needed to reign in mankind; else man would lead to his own downfall.

But how could they make ordinary men follow the right path, and make sure that they do not get carried away by their primitive instincts? If they had tried to instill the righteous way of life to others by themselves, they would have been rejected outright. The enlightened souls might have then realized that, in order to show man the right path, they must feed on man’s most primitive emotion: fear.

They must then have merged the notions of the omnipotent and omnipresent Supreme Being that people had at that time, with teachings about morality and duty. They used concept of God to guide less awakened men and women through their lives. They preached moral principles as the word of the Supreme Being that controls the world; the word of God. If you fear God, you got to obey his word. The word of God was to live in peace and harmony, to take care of the weak and underprivileged, and to work together for a greater good of humanity. If you do not obey Him, you will incur God’s wrath. Perhaps this was how world’s earliest religions were invented.

Every religion in the world teaches the same things, as the word of God. The vehicle is different, but the destination is always the same.

Does God exist?

Whether God has said these things or not, we cannot prove or disprove scientifically. But we do know that what has been preached as the word of God is the correct way of life for all of humanity.

What practical purpose does God serve in our lives?

One, the word of God, as conveyed by each and every religion in the world, shows us the right way of leading our lives. Do not oppress the weak, but help them. Do not resort to anger and violence. Do not cheat. Man’s natural tendency is to go against all these things. But the fear that God always keeps account of your moral credit history, is what keeps most of us from going astray.

Two, God is supposed to help us in our troubled times. We pray to God when we are in distress, and God supposedly provides divine intervention to help us.

Have you ever scientifically thought how praying helps? Is the world any different before and after you have prayed? Has the obstacle you were about to face become less severe? Have the problems you were trying to solve become easier? No, right? Then what has changed after praying? It is your self belief. After prayer, you begin to believe that God is on your side. You believe that He will guide you through rough waters. You are now ready to take the challenges that life throws at you head on. That is the power of belief in God.

Do we need God?

Why does a shepherd tie the cows with a rope, or surround them in a fence? Because he does not want them to wander away aimlessly towards danger. God is the “imaginary” shepherd. And the word of God is the rope or fence that ties us ordinary mortals to our morals. Else we would have wandered away to our downfalls centuries ago.

If a cow is wise enough to realize that she is not supposed to wander away and stay at the location the shepherd has assigned for her, she does not need to be tied to any rope or fence. Similarly, the really enlightened ones among us do not need the concept of God to guide them through their lives. They know the right path without any fear.

BUT the other 99.99999999999 percent of the world DOES need God.

Chronicals of a chronic cricket fan..

31st Jan 1999 -

I was preparing for my pre-engineering test. I had a mock exam that day. But my heart was not in studies. I was more interested in the dramatic India vs. Pakistan Test Match going on in Chennai. Yet studies always came first. I turned up for the mock exam on time. As soon as the final bell rang, I rushed back to my friend's home to catch the final moments of the match. The match was over by then. But the highlights were still playing. Sachin Tendulkar and Nayan Mongia were in the process of digging India out of a hole and taking them to a memorable win. We jumped and rejoiced as the highlights moved as a frantic pace; as Tendulkar battled back spasms to hit one boundary after another, taking India closer and closer to victory. Just when we thought the match was in the bag, disaster struck. Tendulkar hold out to Saqlain Mushtaq for 136. Within minutes, the Indian innings was over. Pakistan had secured a famous win and were doing a lap of honour in front of the Chennai crowd.

5th Nov 2009 -

I was in office, away from India, busy with work. While browsing the net, I suddenly realized that Tendulkar was leading a heroic solo effort against Australia, in an ODI in Hyderabad. I immediately logged into Cricinfo and started checking the latest score updates. Forgetting all work, I kept pressing the refresh button endlessly, as the scoreboard motored along with each Tendulkar boundary. Trying to recall the thousands of runs I have seen him score on TV over 2 decades, I tried to visualize each shot from the commentary I read on the webpage. This time, Tendulkar was determined not to let Chennai 1999 be repeated. But with 19 required of 18 balls, Tendulkar hold out for an epic 175. The Indian innings was soon wrapped up. History repeated itself.

P.S. -

1. Other similarities between the 2 games.

2. Previous post on a similar event.

Challenges of customization of online news

Warning:- Technical post ahead.

When I came across this article sometime back, I was specially intrigued by one particular portion –

Everyone can publish, and everyone will - This is a problem, but since online journalism is still in its relative infancy it’s one that can be solved (we’re technology optimists, remember?). The experience of consuming news on the web today fails to take full advantage of the power of technology. It doesn’t understand what users want in order to give them what they need. When I go to a site like the New York Times or the San Jose Mercury, it should know what I am interested in and what has changed since my last visit. If I read the story on the US stimulus package only six hours ago, then just show me the updates the reporter has filed since then (and the most interesting responses from readers, bloggers, or other sources). If Thomas Friedman has filed a column since I last checked, tell me that on the front page. Beyond that, present to me a front page rich with interesting content selected by smart editors, customized based on my reading habits (tracked with my permission).

This got me thinking about the way presentation of news is expected to evolve in news websites, and how it would differ from offline newspapers. Most news websites these days do support “Guided navigation” features, suggesting articles to readers though links like “You might also be interested in..”, “People who read this also read..” etc. While “guided navigation” does have its obvious benefits, I have a difference of opinion with the suggestion that news websites of the future can completely replace the reading pleasure of offline newspapers. Anyone suggesting that content on a news website should ONLY be tailored to the interests and reading patterns of the reader, forgets that one of the key benefits of reading an offline newspaper is the ability to BROWSE through all topics all the time, and figure out what is interesting to you at that moment. For example, Mr. X may never have read the Finance section of the news website in the past, but if he sees an article about lay-offs or pay-cuts in the Finance section one day, he would definitely read it. Similarly, Mr. X might never read the Science and Health section, but might be interested in an article on an ailment which he suffers from. If the content of presented to Mr. X by the news website is tailored only on what Mr. X have been reading since the time he started using the service, such articles would never show up for him. Such algorithms would only narrow down a reader’s vision and knowledge acquisition to fields he or she has been 'historically' interested in (historically here means the history carried by the service provider), which might be biased by the previous set of articles and news items accessed on that service. Hence, an attempt of this kind, narrows the reader’s interest and intellectual growth in the direction defined by the interest he or she had from the time the reader started using the service. I do understand that such algorithms do get more “intelligent” as the duration of use increases. But there is a limit to which an algorithm can guess what a person wants to read.

A hybrid approach might be the way to go in the future. Front pages of news websites can have 2 sections, one presenting the latest headlines and editorial articles belonging to various topics (that is same for all readers), and one that presents articles based on historical data about the reader’s reading habits (stored with the reader’s permission). Going forward, algorithms of the future, apart from a person’s reading habits, must also consider other attributes like a person’s background (educational, professional, personal, demographic) while coming up with customized articles of the reader’s interest. This approach might help counter the two scenarios mentioned above. In this aspect, integration with social networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn etc. might be an option worth considering.

Mythological Mystery

Yesterday, someone at work forwarded me this joke -
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In some remote village of India , a Masterji was teaching Mahabharat Katha to class 6 students. He was at the 'Krishnajanma' chapter.

Masterji: Kansa heard an akashwani that, his sister's 8th child would kill him. He was furious. He ordered to put Vasudev and Devaki behind bars.

First son is born, and Kansa kills him by poisoning...

Second one is born and Kansa throws him off the mountain peak...

Third one is born....

Now Ramu, who is smartest of the lot, raises his hand.

Ramu: Masterji, I have a doubt (sounding nervous and confused)

Masterji: Ramu bete, whole of India does not have doubt in Mahabharata then how come you have one?"

Ramu: Masterji, if Kansa knew that, Devaki's 8th child was going to kill him, why the hell did he put Vasudev and Devaki in the same cell???

Masterji fainted.......
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Though the joke was good, I began thinking about the real reason for this. After some research, I chanced upon the real reason -

Kans was a doting brother. He loved his sister Devaki very much. Vasudev was Kans’ friend and his choice as the husband for Devaki. When Kans heard the Akashvani about Devaki’s 8th son killing him, he imprisoned Vasudev and Devaki together. His plan was to release Devaki and Vasudev after he had killed first 8 children. Though Kans was a cruel man, he loved his sister, and did not want to keep her imprisoned for life. Moreover, he had complete confidence on the security system of his jail and could never imagine that someone could escape. He thought, that after killing the 8th child, he will be out of danger.

The next question that came to my mind was -

If Kansa knew that Devaki's 8th child would kill him, why did he kill the first 6 (remember that the 7th child Balrama was not killed either)?

After some more research, the answer to this question was also found -

The first 6 sons of Devaki were sons of Marichi. They once laughed at Sage Devala, as he was very ricketee. He cursed them. They were born as the sons of Kalanemi. They became known as Sadgarbha. They used to remain in the water at Patala loka performing penance to obtain immortality. Brahma granted them immortality. However Hiranyakashipu became angry at this. He did not like his brother's grandsons obtaining a boon from Brahma (Kalanemi was the son of Hiranyakashipu's brother Hiranyaksha).

Therefore, he cursed them to be born again and be killed by their own father. Accordingly, they were born as Devaki's children and were killed by their own father. Kamsa as Kalanemi was their father in their earlier birth. The boon given by Brahma to be immortal and the curse given by Hiranyakashipu to be killed by their father were reconciled by Durga.

To make this happen Narad muni went to Kansa after akashvani and feed this idea of “killing all” into his head. To trick Kansa - Narad drew a circle with eight dots and asked Kansa to identify the 8th dot, which was impossible and he obliged to kill all approach.

The more you study this great epic, the more interesting things you learn.

6 Online Vices

This tag from Nikhil has forced me to come out of my online slumber.

I agree with all the vices mentioned by Nikhil, hence I will start my list from no.6. But I will go one step further and list 6 vices from my side. :-)

6. Sending mails with "Hi" or other such meaningless subject lines

In these days when an average person's mailbox consists of hundreds and thousands of mails, and searching for the right mail is a time consuming and often irritating activity, the least one can expect is the sender to use proper subject lines in mails (indicating the content of the mail), so that the recipient can easily figure out what the mail is all about.

7. Sending mails with no subject line

This is not an out-an-out wise as it were. It might sometimes make sense to send mails without subject lines. But one should try to avoid it unless absolutely necessary, for the same reasons as mentioned in point no. 6.

8. Typing entire mails in CAPITAL letters

This is a universally accepted vice. Not only does a mail in ALL CAPS indicate that the composer is try to shout aloud at the top of his voice, but it also makes it very difficult to read.

9. Using multiple font colors in one mail

While it might be necessary to use more than one font color in a mail (for highlighting a particular portion), extravagant use of multiple font colors various sentences / words in the same e-mail a big turn-off.

10. Not being able to find mails in one's mailbox and asking people to re-send mails frequently

Mailboxes of today have ceased to be tools of leisure and become the single most important repository of personal information. Hence, it is imperative that people manage their mails properly, and not loose or misplace them frequently. Given the extremely high number of mails received by everyone these days, it is natural to misplace an odd mail or two at times. But this should definitely not be a chronic problem.

11. Using "Read Receipt" and / or "High Priority" in all mails

Excessive use / abuse of anything makes it loose its value.

The Vote

I did something momentous the other day. I voted for the 1st time in my life!!

Although I have been an adult for quite some time now, this is the first time I have exercised my franchise. The main reason for me being not voting all these years was the fact that I had never been in my hometown at the time of polls. I am happy to have finally broken the jinx. :-)